A 13-Year Old Received The Surprise Of His Life At The Free Throw Line

If only Dwight Howard’s missed free throws could inspire this much happiness. As 13-year old Derrick Jenkins stepped to the free throw line last Thursday during his middle school basketball game in San Antonio, he probably didn’t expect to freak out and cry if he missed his shot. Fortunately, he did miss his shot and his mom was standing right behind him to tell him that it was just fine. Normally, that would probably be incredibly embarrassing to a teenage boy trying to play sports, but Derrick hadn’t seen his mom in eight months because she’s been serving in Kuwait.

Just when I think that these videos will finally stop getting to me, I see a reaction like Derrick’s and it’s like I just watched my first soldier coming home video all over again. Eventually, someone’s going to combine one of these videos of a mom or dad surprising some kids by returning with a dog seeing its owner for the first time in months and my heart will literally melt into coronary pudding. It’ll be worth it.